Cable Recommendations

You do realise this a Pandora box you've just opened, don't you? 

There will be as many permutations as there will be answers...

SuperLumina full loom works a treat on my NDS / 555DR /252/SCDR/300DR + Ovators S400. The funny thing is that SL work best as a set - at least that's my experience.

You will certainly benefit from a move up from Naim stock cables with the level of system you have but it is imperative you carry out home demos in your system in your listening room using your ears to prove the not insignificant investment is worth it to you.

Happy SuperLumina full loom user here.

I know what bun fights posh cables tend to start on here (still not sure why) so let's all be nice to each other! 

Who gives a toss what Martin Colloms thinks?

Hungryhalibut posted:

Who gives a toss what Martin Colloms thinks?

Never heard of this chap.... who is he?

Adam Zielinski posted:

You do realise this a Pandora box you've just opened, don't you? 

There will be as many permutations as there will be answers...

SuperLumina full loom works a treat on my NDS / 555DR /252/SCDR/300DR + Ovators S400. The funny thing is that SL work best as a set - at least that's my experience.

 

Adam, thank you for responding! I am Naim customer, but mostly unfamiliar with what else is out there, so while my instinct is to do full Naim SL cable system, it would be nice if laying out nice amount of money I would also get outcome I could say was worthwhile. So far my reliance of investing in Naim has been very successful for my tastes and listening habits, but  when I read about Naim cables I hear mixed results. Auditioning for cables has never been as obvious for me as speakers, amps or CD player & TT.

charles

Charles - there’s only one opinion that counts

If I were you I’d spend some time just enjoying your system and then try some home demos.  Naim PLs and the hi-line as well as the SLs are all worthy of trial as are some of the Chord DIN variants.  Trial and patience.  

Regards,

Lindsay

nigelb posted:

You will certainly benefit from a move up from Naim stock cables with the level of system you have but it is imperative you carry out home demos in your system in your listening room using your ears to prove the not insignificant investment is worth it to you.

Happy SuperLumina full loom user here.

I know what bun fights posh cables tend to start on here (still not sure why) so let's all be nice to each other! 

Nigel’s, in UK home demos seems deregure, but in ever shrinking US market where no one actually sits and listens to music at home and concert halls patrons border on nursing homes, little is offered. Still I need to ask for something at my home.

 Charles 

Hungryhalibut posted:

Who gives a toss what Martin Colloms thinks?

HH, I’ve been reading, taking note and appreciating your comments for long time, however I must take exception regarding gang at HiFI Critic. I find their reviews informed and ones that like road signs direct to what to pay attention to. I find many Steriophile & Absolute Sound writers to avoid mapping out the insights of why product is of value. But HH I’ll still look forward to your comments.

charles 

CXF04 posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

You do realise this a Pandora box you've just opened, don't you? 

There will be as many permutations as there will be answers...

SuperLumina full loom works a treat on my NDS / 555DR /252/SCDR/300DR + Ovators S400. The funny thing is that SL work best as a set - at least that's my experience.

 

Adam, thank you for responding! I am Naim customer, but mostly unfamiliar with what else is out there, so while my instinct is to do full Naim SL cable system, it would be nice if laying out nice amount of money I would also get outcome I could say was worthwhile. So far my reliance of investing in Naim has been very successful for my tastes and listening habits, but  when I read about Naim cables I hear mixed results. Auditioning for cables has never been as obvious for me as speakers, amps or CD player & TT.

charles

Charles - don't give too much gravitas to written reviews, especially from hi-fi experts (real or so-called). You have a mind of your own, which clearly serves you well since you can afford such nice Naim boxes

If you searched this forum, you'd have found 3 perhaps 4 cable manufacturers, whose products tend to work consistently well with NAIM. NAIM's own cables, Tellurium Q, Chord and Vertere. Most forum members report that Naim, Tellurium Q and Chord work best in their own full-loom sets. Mixing manufacturers can lead to unpredictable resutls (been there myself).

At the end of the day I settled on a SuperLumina full loom. I could of course come up with some pseudo-scientific / psycho-scientific attempt at a rational explanaiton. But I won't. They just sounded right to me.
Mind you - I also use Chord and Tellurium Q but for more specific applications when connecting non-Naim equipment to Naim.

I think it's fair to say - all of the 3 brands I mentioned would represent a significant upgrade over your stock cables. Which ones would work the best for you - only you can decide that - either by tesing (which may be difficult) or by reading this forum.

Either way - you will like and enjoy the upgrade. That I can (sort of) guarantee

Adam

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Charles - there’s only one opinion that counts

If I were you I’d spend some time just enjoying your system and then try some home demos.  Naim PLs and the hi-line as well as the SLs are all worthy of trial as are some of the Chord DIN variants.  Trial and patience.  

Regards,

Lindsay

Strat, several years back I bought first incarnation of Hi-Line, it’s been in my system and I’ve never been able to quantify that it did anything. Your point is well taken, enjoy my soon to be delivered 552 and at later date request at least home trial.

charles

Charles,

if you live anywhere near Leicester, take a trip to Cymbiosis where you can get a demo of Super Lumina vs Chord Sarum T.

Then make your own mind up which one you'd rather have.

Don't listen to the Chord Music cables unless you can afford them  

Debs

Adam Zielinski posted:

CXF04 posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

You do realise this a Pandora box you've just opened, don't you? 

There will be as many permutations as there will be answers...

SuperLumina full loom works a treat on my NDS / 555DR /252/SCDR/300DR + Ovators S400. The funny thing is that SL work best as a set - at least that's my experience.

 

Adam, thank you for responding! I am Naim customer, but mostly unfamiliar with what else is out there, so while my instinct is to do full Naim SL cable system, it would be nice if laying out nice amount of money I would also get outcome I could say was worthwhile. So far my reliance of investing in Naim has been very successful for my tastes and listening habits, but  when I read about Naim cables I hear mixed results. Auditioning for cables has never been as obvious for me as speakers, amps or CD player & TT.

charles

Charles - don't give too much gravitas to written reviews, especially from hi-fi experts (real or so-called). You have a mind of your own, which clearly serves you well since you can afford such nice Naim boxes

If you searched this forum, you'd have found 3 perhaps 4 cable manufacturers, whose products tend to work consistently well with NAIM. NAIM's own cables, Tellurium Q, Chord and Vertere. Most forum members report that Naim, Tellurium Q and Chord work best in their own full-loom sets. Mixing manufacturers can lead to unpredictable resutls (been there myself).

At the end of the day I settled on a SuperLumina full loom. I could of course come up with some pseudo-scientific / psycho-scientific attempt at a rational explanaiton. But I won't. They just sounded right to me.
Mind you - I also use Chord and Tellurium Q but for more specific applications when connecting non-Naim equipment to Naim.

I think it's fair to say - all of the 3 brands I mentioned would represent a significant upgrade over your stock cables. Which ones would work the best for you - only you can decide that - either by tesing (which may be difficult) or by reading this forum.

Either way - you will like and enjoy the upgrade. That I can (sort of) guarantee

Adam

Adam, thank you for your response! So the backdoor to making cables work is “bundling.” I assume the above brands carry some lines that work more favorably with Naim. I’ve certainly read that Naim gear often works  well with at least with some Chord. 

Adam, would speculate why some on Forum have given up on their SL speaker cables after year, I did read that a while back . So cables are dependent on consistency in setup?

thank you again.

charles 

naim_nymph posted:

Charles,

if you live anywhere near Leicester, take a trip to Cymbiosis where you can get a demo of Super Lumina vs Chord Sarum T.

Then make your own mind up which one you'd rather have.

Don't listen to the Chord Music cables unless you can afford them  

Debs

Nymph, it would be nice but one of my progenitor traveled west and when I had chance to backtrack and claim Crown’s passport I didn’t.

thanks anyway

Charles 

CXF04 posted:

HH, I’ve been reading, taking note and appreciating your comments for long time, however I must take exception regarding gang at HiFI Critic. I find their reviews informed and ones that like road signs direct to what to pay attention to. I find many Steriophile & Absolute Sound writers to avoid mapping out the insights of why product is of value. But HH I’ll still look forward to your comments.

charles 

A perhaps more reflective response would have been for me to say that you should take the reviews simply as a pointer, and listen for yourself before spending your money. 

The SL/Chord/Vertere/Tellurium options have been covered exhaustively. There is no right or wrong. Each has their fans. I use SL simply because I like the idea of an all Naim system and they are literally made to work with the DR boxes. I have not tried the other options, which may be better or worse. 

CXF04 posted:

Adam, thank you for your response! So the backdoor to making cables work is “bundling.” I assume the above brands carry some lines that work more favorably with Naim. I’ve certainly read that Naim gear often works  well with at least with some Chord. 

Adam, would speculate why some on Forum have given up on their SL speaker cables after year, I did read that a while back . So cables are dependent on consistency in setup?

thank you again.

charles 

 

'Bundling' - a good word. Yes - that is my experience. Chord Sarum T (as it's now called) and SuperLumina are two 'bundles' that I liked the most when I heard them. I only heard TelluriumQ interconnects, so cannot advise on them in this context.

I once went from SL speaker cables back to my trusted NACA5. But that was before I had other SL cables in place in the system. As soon as the DIN-XLR went in, I realised what happened and the SL speaker cables went back in.

Super Lumina DIN to XLR, Chord Epic Reference speaker cable for me. Bundling, full loom, call it what you will, didn't work as well. I gave SL speaker cable (and Chord interconnect) a good trial, but my combo simply sounds better to my ears. I don't doubt for one moment that all Chord, all Naim etc. will sound just fine, but if you don't try different combinations you'll never know what you might be missing!

CXF04 posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Charles - there’s only one opinion that counts

If I were you I’d spend some time just enjoying your system and then try some home demos.  Naim PLs and the hi-line as well as the SLs are all worthy of trial as are some of the Chord DIN variants.  Trial and patience.  

Regards,

Lindsay

Strat, several years back I bought first incarnation of Hi-Line, it’s been in my system and I’ve never been able to quantify that it did anything. Your point is well taken, enjoy my soon to be delivered 552 and at later date request at least home trial.

charles

From personal experience, both Chord Sarum Tuned Aray and SL interconnects each give a far bigger boost to SQ over the stock IC compared to the Hi Line. The HL is good but not even close to the SL IC IMHO. Wow that is nearly the complete alphabet!

The standard interconnects are the default as is A5, all of which you already have. With a new 552 it might be best to let it settle in before experimemting with expensive alternatives. 

There is a hint from various posting that the cable system that works best is influenced by speaker choice, so for Ovators it might well be SL but with the big Spendors on the blunt end this could well change.

Hi [@mention:1566878603898787]. Congratulations on a great system!

I really enjoy what Tellurium Q cables bring to the party. Unfortunately though, for Naim systems, they don’t make a ‘full loom’. DIN to DIN for source to pre amp and speaker cables is what you’re limited to. No DIN to XLR for pre amp to power amp. I, like Adam Z,  have found that mixing TQ with SuperLumina cables just doesn’t work. I use a TQ Black diamond DIN from CDX2 to pre amp and, at the moment, TQ Black speaker cable. I like the idea of a ‘full loom’ from one manufacturer, so at some point I may have to look into SL cables before upgrading witnin TQ. 

nigelb posted:

CXF04 posted:

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Charles - there’s only one opinion that counts

If I were you I’d spend some time just enjoying your system and then try some home demos.  Naim PLs and the hi-line as well as the SLs are all worthy of trial as are some of the Chord DIN variants.  Trial and patience.  

Regards,

Lindsay

Strat, several years back I bought first incarnation of Hi-Line, it’s been in my system and I’ve never been able to quantify that it did anything. Your point is well taken, enjoy my soon to be delivered 552 and at later date request at least home trial.

charles

From personal experience, both Chord Sarum Tuned Aray and SL interconnects each give a far bigger boost to SQ over the stock IC compared to the Hi Line. The HL is good but not even close to the SL IC IMHO. Wow that is nearly the complete alphabet!

I must agree whilst I had S/L speaker cables on demo last year I was using a H/Li-Line changing this to a S/L whilst using the S/L speaker cables was a revelation an expensive one at that !!

I suggest you start at front end and try a demo set of SL interconnects between cd player and pre ....... this should make a good improvement (I dont think you will want to return them!)..... then try speaker cable .... then and so so on!!!!